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In this episode of The Yacht Racing Life Podcast, host Justin Chisholm sits down with British Olympic campaigner Micky Beckett for a wide‑ranging and candid conversation about his journey in the Laser (ILCA 7) class, the brutal highs and lows of Olympic campaigning, and his plans for the future.

From growing up in a tiny Welsh harbour, crashing around in a home‑built dinghy, to standing on start lines against the world’s best, Beckett’s story is one of perseverance, learning, and a relentless drive for self‑improvement. He opens up about the influence of the British Sailing Team and his long‑standing rivalries with squad‑mate Elliot Hanson and Australian Olympic champion Matt Wearn. He shares how those rivalries have pushed him to evolve, both physically and mentally, and why surrounding himself with high‑calibre training partners is essential to his success.

We talk about the pain of Paris 2024, where his medal race unravelled in heartbreaking fashion after a restart and a pair of costly penalties. Beckett reflects with refreshing honesty on the disappointment of finishing sixth and the process of rebuilding his confidence and drive in the months that followed. That journey led to an emphatic statement win at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía in Palma – his fourth successive title there – proving to himself and the fleet that he still belongs at the sharp end of the class.

Listeners will get a fascinating insight into the day‑to‑day life of a full‑time Olympic sailor: the three‑hour training sessions in Weymouth Bay, the gruelling gym work needed to stay competitive in the physically punishing ILCA 7, and the importance of managing recovery to avoid the burnout that comes with life on the campaign trail. Beckett also shares his practical advice for club sailors who want to hike harder, recover faster, and sail smarter.

But this conversation goes beyond racing. Beckett reflects on the independence and resilience he developed as a teenager, sailing alone off the Pembrokeshire coast, and how that mindset carried him through university and into the professional ranks. He speaks about his inspirations – from Sir Steve Redgrave and James Cracknell to Sir Ben Ainslie – and how their stories shaped his own approach to sport.

Finally, we look ahead to his next big goal: the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Beckett outlines his plan to peak at the right time, the work still to be done at the Long Beach venue, and his dream of one day stepping into the America’s Cup or SailGP arena.

Whether you’re a Laser sailor, an Olympic sailing fan, or simply curious about what it takes to compete at the highest level, this is an episode full of insights, inspiration, and no‑nonsense honesty from one of the class’s most thoughtful and determined competitors.

Listen now and join Beckett on his journey from the pain of Paris to the pursuit of perfection in Los Angeles.

Episode Summary:

In the latest episode of The Yacht Racing Life Podcast, Justin Chisholm sits down with fellow sailing journalist Magnus Wheatley to unpack a packed weekend of world-class racing at last weekend's British SailGP event. From the electric atmosphere in Portsmouth to Britain’s much-needed resurgence, the pair dive deep into the stories behind the racing – from Dylan Fletcher’s standout performance under pressure to the bold new ideas shaping the league’s future.

Key Highlights:

• On-the-water impressions: Why the stadium-style SailGP experience is unlike anything else in sailing.
• Team GB’s bounce back: Dylan Fletcher, Hannah Mills, and the crew deliver under home pressure.
• Big picture SailGP: Russell Coutts’ vision – including a dedicated “tech ship” and propulsion-assisted racing for light venues.
• Women at the wheel? What’s next for female sailors in the league – and is Hannah Mills in line for her own SailGP team?
• Swiss breakthrough & Italian struggles: Which teams impressed and which left questions unanswered.
• Press conference candour: Why SailGP’s media approach still misses the mark.
• Human story: Magnus shares his involvement in helping blind sailor Danny Phipps attempt a solo circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight.

About the Guest:

Magnus Wheatley is a veteran sailing journalist and commentator, best known for his Rule 69 Substack, where he offers sharp insight and candid commentary on the world of professional yacht racing.

Call to Action:

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Justin Chisholm sits down with North Sails president Ken Read for a look across the recent goings on in the sailboat racing world.

We start with the IMOCA class — that wild, high-stakes solo circuit that somehow keeps cranking out close finishes in the middle of nowhere. Kenny was glued to the last Vendée Globe like the rest of us, marvelling at the match race up front and the level of detail behind every campaign. 

From there, we go deep into the design side. Read talks about how the North Sails brain trust has gone full tilt on integrating aerodynamics and hydrodynamics — a shift driven by the America’s Cup but now baked into every serious offshore campaign. “It’s not sails and boats anymore,” he says. “It’s a single system.” And it’s not just designers and sailors in the loop. Software engineers, CFD specialists, VPP gurus — it’s a full-circle design process now, and if you’re not closing that loop, you’re getting left behind.

And what about the ongoing health of the IMOCA class in recent years? Stronger than ever, says Read. The French dominance isn’t a problem – it’s the reason the class works. The culture, the fan base, the sponsors, the European kids who grow up wanting to be offshore sailors — that’s the fuel in the tank. Sure, there’s chatter about needing more international flavour, but as Read puts it: “It’s kicking ass. Don’t mess with it.”

We veer into the age-old mystery of why this style of sailing hasn’t taken off in the States. There’s no simple answer, but Kenny gives it a go. He talks about a missing culture, a lack of aspirational heroes, and the need for more people to “give back” if the next generation is going to get inspired. “We just don’t have a pipeline,” he says. 

Then comes the Ferrari segment. The Hypersail project is everything you’d expect from the Italian supercar maker: fast, sleek, secretive, and a little bit nuts. Read says it’s “IMOCAs on steroids,” with a dream team of designers and engineers (including Guillaume Verdier) and full integration of aero and hydro from the start. And yes, North Sails and Southern Spars are right in the thick of it. There’s even a Ferrari-branded performance clothing line in the works — because why not?

We move on to the Moth World Championship, where a kid named Enzo Balanger came out of nowhere to take down the heavyweights. Read credits Bruno Dubois with spotting the talent early — just as he did with Caudrelier years ago — and says Enzo’s win proves he’s the real deal. The Moth, he adds, remains a bleeding-edge test lab for sail design and control systems. Forget trickle-down from the Cup — the Moth is a two-way street for innovation.

So what about the rest of us non-foilers? Read says traditional sailing’s still alive and well — for now. But fast forward ten years, and don’t be surprised if kids are foiling on everything. “They’re not going to want to go back in the water,” he says.

Then there’s the offshore shift to sailing from inside — driven, Read says, by one thing: the violence of the waves, rather than the wind. “You get hit by a wall of water and find yourself in the back of the boat with half the wheel in your hand,” he recalls from his Volvo Ocean Race days. Safety is now the top priority, and he doesn’t see anyone going back outside anytime soon.

Is there still room for big boats like Comanche? Absolutely, says Read. Under IRC, there’s a thriving maxi scene, and boats like V (formerly Tango), which he’s now helping to campaign, are keeping the sport accessible for owner-drivers who want to race hard and have fun....

In this episode of The Yacht Racing Life Podcast, Justin Chisholm is joined from the UK by fellow yachting journalist Magnus Wheatley to dive into all the drama, intrigue, and slippery foils of the the sixth event of SailGP Season 5, which took place in New York last weekend.

While neither of them got the call-up from Russell Coutts to attend in person (again), Justin and Magnus were watching intently online and had plenty to say about a weekend of unpredictable conditions, inconsistent performances, and some curious tactical decisions.

Magnus begins with heaps of praise for the SailGP tech team for getting the boats racing at all after the major repair operation that has taken place in the last 12 weeks.

The pair talk about the impact of the light-air LAB foils—and how some of the fleet looked like they were back in Season 1—and question the wisdom of requiring just three crew for the first race on Saturday. Spain were worthy winners, but nobody really dominated. Even the mighty Aussies looked rattled, perhaps distracted by their new A-list ownership?

Justin and Magnus tip their hats to the Brazilians, with Martine Grael looking more relaxed and effective at the helm—clearly benefiting from the support of Paul Goodison, Leigh McMillan, and Andy Maloney.

Off the water, they tackle the booming commercial side of SailGP. Celebrity investors, eyewatering valuations, and a media machine that’s clearly focused on global reach more than just the core sailing fan. They speculate on American Magic’s rumoured interest in the US team, discuss where the real value lies in these franchises, and whether Russell Coutts' high-stakes game could reshape sailing’s professional landscape.

The duo finish with a few bold season-winner predictions. Listen to the end to find out who they each back.

Justin Chisholm’s guest is the British solo around-the-world sailor Sam Goodchild.

Goodchild recently fulfilled a 14 -year dream to compete in the Vendée Globe solo, nonstop, around-the-world race. Racing as part of Thomas Ruyant’s two boat TR Racing campaign and on a previous generation IMOCA he led the race several times in the early stages heading down the Atlantic and entered the final fortnight of the race in a battle for fourth place with Vendée veteran Jérémie Beyou on his new generation boat Charral.

Disappointingly catastrophic mainsail damage in a storm on the approach to Cape Finisterre at the entrance to the Bay of Biscay saw him split his mainsail in two. Ever resourceful Goodchild somehow managed to glue the sail back together on the rolling pitching wave-washed deck of his 60-foot yacht and get back in the race to finish a highly credible ninth overall.

Justin caught up with him recently at his home in Lorient where he lives with his wife and two children.

Image © Pierre Bouras

Justin Chisholm's guest is Italian / American sailor Francesca Clapcich.

Frankie – as she is best known – has had an amazing career in sailing since having been introduced to the sport by her parents when she was a young child growing up in Trieste, Italy. 

She has won world and European titles, twice represented Italy at the Olympic Games, is the first Italian to sailor win The Ocean Race, and competed at last year's Women's America's Cup. If all that isn’t enough – she’s also a CrossFit Coach, a triathlete, and ski instructor, too.

Despite having achieved so much, Frankie is far from ready to rest on her laurels and last month announced her campaign to compete in the 2028 edition of the world’s toughest yacht race – the singlehanded, nonstop, around the world Vendée Globe.

Frankie spoke to us from her home in Park City, Utah where she lives with her professional sailor wife Sally Barkow and their young daughter Harriet.

[Image © Eloi Stichelbaut - polaRYSE / 11th Hour Racing]

Yacht Racing Life editor Justin Chisholm is joined from the UK by Magnus Wheatley as the pair give their independent analysis and commentary on the fifth event of the Rolex SailGP Championship 2025 season which took place in San Francisco, CA this weekend.

Yacht Racing Life editor Justin Chisholm is joined from the UK by Magnus Wheatley (Rule69 Blog) as the pair give their independent analysis and commentary on the fourth event of the Rolex SailGP Championship 2025 season which took place in Los Angeles, CA this weekend.

Justin Chisholm’s guest on the latest episode of the Yacht Racing Life Podcast is American athlete John Croom.

Croom had an illustrious career as a track cyclist in the US National Team before switching sports to bring his physique and fitness to bear in the America’s Cup, where he raced as a ‘cyclor’ aboard the New York Yacht Club American Magic AC75 at the 38th Cup in Barcelona last year.

During what turned out to be a wide ranging and fast paced interview we find out how John’s tried football and wrestling before becoming hooked on cycling – as well as taking a deep dive into his time with American Magic to discover what life is really like for an America’s Cup cyclor.

Justin Chisholm’s guest on the latest episode of the Yacht Racing Podcast is the American sailor, meteorologist, and navigation expert, Anderson Reggio.

Anderson has just returned home with his family to Newport Rhode Island after a two year assignment in Barcelona, Spain where he headed up the data analytics unit at the US America’s Cup syndicate NYYC American Magic.

During their chat they discuss the increasing importance of data analysis and Artificial Intelligence in the America’s Cup but we begin by hearing how Anderson and his family enjoyed their extended sojourn in Barcelona.

On the latest episode of the Yacht Racing Life Podcast British sailing journalists Justin Chisholm and Magnus Wheatley catch up online to review the action at last weekend’s SailGP event three with took place in Sydney, Australia.

As well as diving into the relative performances of the top three teams – event winners Emirates GBR, skippered by Dylan Fletcher; second-placed Northstar Canada, led by Giles Scott; and Tom Slingsby’s home town favourites, third-placed Australia – the pair also take a close individual look at each of the other nine international crews. 

Cover image © Jon Buckle for SailGP

Joining Justin Chisholm on the Yacht Racing Life Podcast this time is Australian Olympic silver medallist and two-time America’s Cup winner with Emirates Team New Zealand – Glenn Ashby.

As well as his AC and Olympic achievements Glenn also holds the wind-powered land speed record with an incredible run of 222.4 kilometres per hour.

For the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona last year Glen was drafted in to provide some expert punditry as part of the TV commentary team working along side Shirley Robertson and Stephen McIvor.

During the interview Glenn is quizzed him about his commentary booth experience and shares his expert breakdown of the six competing teams and the technology behind their respective boats. 

The interview rounds out with some chat about what it’s like to pilot a craft at 222.4 kph before Glenn reveals his exciting plans for a new sail-powered speed record attempt.

On the latest episode of the Yacht Racing Life Podcast Justin Chisholm’s guest is the British double Olympic gold-medallist sailor Giles Scott.

Aside from his Olympic triumphs Giles is also an multiple America’s Cup veteran – including taking part in the last three consecutive British challenges –  and recently stepped into the role of skipper of the Northstar Canada team for the fifth season of SailGP.

During the interview – recorded in early January 2025 – Giles talks about his earliest days in sailing as a youngster who initially had no interest in racing and had to be bribed to compete by his mum. 

He also discuss his approach to Olympic campaigning and talks through his very different run ups to his two Olympic gold medal victories at the Rio and Tokyo Games, as well as diving into his experiences with INEOS Britannia in last year’s 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, before closing the interview with some chat about his high profile SailGP transfer from the British Emirates GBR squad to the Canadians.

Justin Chisholm is joined by fellow-British sailing writer Magnus Wheatley (Rule69 Blog) as the pair give their independent analysis of the second SailGP event of Season 5 which took place in spectacular style in Auckland, New Zealand last weekend.

Cover image © Felix Diemer for SailGP

Justin Chisholm’s guest is American professional sailor and coach, Tom Burnham, who takes on a fascinating deep dive into the New York Yacht Club’s American Magic syndicate’s recent challenge for the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona.

During the interview Tom shares his thoughts on the relative merits of the Shared Reconnaissance programme, explains the key elements of his role as the American syndicate’s head coach, describes what goes on aboard the coach boat during a typical training day, as well as giving his assessment of how AC37 played out between the six teams on the waters of the Mediterranean off Barcelona last summer.

All this plus loads more fascinating insight makes it an interview that America’s Cup fans absolutely won’t want to miss.

Justin Chisholm’s guest is the renowned Portuguese sailing photographer Ricardo Pinto.

Ricardo is one of the most prolific shooters in the business right now and his work from around the world at our sport’s keystone regattas will be familiar to anyone following professional sailboat racing.

From the ocean going IMOCAs of the Vendée Globe and The Ocean Race, to the supercharged fast foilers of Sail GP and the America’s Cup, Ricardo’s stunning images help bring these events to life for sailing fans everywhere.

Ricardo’s pure passion – both for sailing and his chosen profession – shines through throughout the interview where he illustrates the skill, hard work and dedication that goes into becoming one of the world’s best yachting photographers.

Ever wondered what it’s like to be in charge of an America’s Cup chase boat? Right at the very heart of the on the water battle - nobody, other than the AC75 sailors themselves, gets a closer vantage point on the white hot racing action.

Justin Chisholm’s guest on this episode of the Yacht Racing Life Podcast is Tony Quinn – chase boat driver for the British INEOS Britannia America’s Cup syndicate that last year in Barcelona Spain won the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series and took on the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the 37th America’s Cup Match.

In the interview Tony shares what the high pressure chase boat driver role is all about and gives us a behind the scenes look at real life inside the highly professional environment of an America’s Cup team.

British Olympic gold medallist and America’s Cup sailor Paul Goodison returns for his second appearance on the Yacht Racing Life Podcast.

Goodison needs very little introduction to most sailing fans. He is an Olympic gold medal winner in the Laser class, a three time Moth world champion and a veteran now of three America’s Cup campaigns – the latest of which was his second go around with the New York Yacht Club’s American Magic syndicate at the 37th Cup in Barcelona last year.

Sadly things did not go as planned for him, as a serious accident aboard the American AC75 after racing early in the competition – in which he broke five ribs – ruled him out of any further participation.

Despite this setback he was quickly back at the American Magic base doing whatever he could to help the team’s progress through the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Series.

The interview features some fantastic insider insight into American Magic’s Barcelona campaign – including Goodison's working and personal relationship with co-helmsman and previous fierce Olympic rival Tom Slingsby – but begins with an update on his recovery and an explanation of exactly how the accident happened.

During the summer of 2024 Irish solo offshore skipper Tom Dolan joined an exclusive club when he became only the third non-French sailor to win the hallowed Solitaire du Figaro regatta.

His achievement is all the more impressive given that he did not come from a sailing family or grow up close to the sea. 

In fact, Tom was brought up on a farm in the middle of Ireland and his first sailing experience was on a shallow lake aboard a battered old wooden dinghy on which he and his father taught themselves to sail.

An inauspicious start to a professional sailing career perhaps, but Tom had been well and truly bitten by the sailing bug. 

Despite studying agricultural science at college he soon felt the pull of the sea and that led him to a bold move to Concarneau in northern France – the epicentre of the French offshore racing scene.

After teaching himself French and cutting his teeth in the Mini class he moved up onto the Figaro circuit where he set his sights on one day winning the Solitaire du Figaro trophy – one of yacht racing’s landmark events.

We caught up with Tom to find out  the full story of his auspicious victory.

Justin Chisholm chats to Newport, Rhode Island-based Sailing World magazine editor David Reed.

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Australian-born Luke Parkinson is a high-performance sailor who has carved out an enviable career for himself in the ocean racing world – having won The Ocean Race 2014-15 with Ian Walker's Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing – and as an expert protagonist of the art of foiling in both SailGP and the America's Cup - with Ben Ainslie's Emirates Team GBR and INEOS Britannia, respectively.

During a wide-ranging conversation Luke talks about his early days as a young sailor, his aspirations of following in the footsteps of his Olympic gold medal winning sister Tessa, his ongoing passion for ocean racing, his first experience in of racing around the world, as well as his thoughts on the America's Cup and SailGP.

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Tom Morris is a talented British dinghy sailor, who aside from his sailing achievements – that include a national championship victory in the RS800 twin trapeze skiff class and winning the UK’s champion of champions Endeavour Trophy last year – is also host of the highly popular YouTube channel Mozzy Sails, where he and some of his sailing friends provide some fascinating and much needed analysis of the technical side of the 37th America’s Cup. So far, Morris' channel has racked up close to four million views and has a subscriber base of just short of 22 thousand and counting.



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British sailing writer and America's Cup aficionado Magnus Wheatley has been obsessed with yacht racing's oldest and most prestigious competition since he was in his mid-teens..

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Justin Chisholm catches up with fellow British sailing journalist Andy Rice, who as well as being a regular contributor to all the major sailing publications, also hosts the Sailjuice Podcast as well as running the Road to Gold 12 step coaching programme that helps sailors of all abilities improve their racing performance.

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Justin Chisholm is joined by friend and colleague David Fuller – host of the Yacht Business podcast which examines new innovative technologies, trends and business models that are having an impact on the global marine industry.

On this crossover episode – which will be jointly published on The Yacht Business Podcast, (available on all major podcasting platforms) – the pair discuss how various technologies are having an effect on the professional yacht racing world.

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Justin Chisholm’s guest this time is British Olympic medallist and SailGP competitor, Hannah Mills.

Hannah won silver in the women’s 470 class at the London 2012 Olympics and followed that victory up with back to back gold medals at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 making her the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time.

She called time on her Olympic campaigning after the last Games, but was snapped up by Sir Ben Ainslie’s Great Britain SailGP Team where she has raced in the strategist role on the British F50 foiling catamaran, as well as spearheading the team’s initiatives around the SailGP Women’s Pathway Programme and indulging her passion for sustainability with the the team’s Protect Our Future climate education platform recently launched with its charity partner, 1851 Trust.

THIS EPISODE ID FREE TO LISTEN TO UNTIL JUNE 26 2022. AFTER THAT DATE PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS OUR ENTIRE BACK CATALOGUE.

Image © Thomas Lovelock/SailGP

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Justin Chisholm’s guest is Dutch offshore sailor Rosalin Kuiper who has just been announced as a member of Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia  IMOCA 60 crew for the upcoming edition of The Ocean Race which sets off around the world in January 2023. 

As you will hear in the interview, the young Dutch sailor has a fantastic back story. Whereas lots of people just dream of being a professional sailor and racing around the world Rosie came up with a plan and went out on her own into the world and made it happen.

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Justin Chisholm’s guest is British yachtsman Freddie Carr, a five time veteran of the America’s Cup who has recently signed on for his sixth campaign to win yachting’s oldest and most prestigious trophy.

Aside from his racing skills Freddie has also carved out a sailing media career for himself and is well known to high-performance sailing fans for his role as a mainstay of the SailGP commentary team.

The interview turned into a wide ranging discussion that spanned Freddie’s illustrious career in the America’s Cup, his thoughts on SailGP, as well as a debate over the relative merits of cycling versus grinding in the next America’s Cup – and much more besides.

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Justin Chisholm’s guest is American Olympic silver medalist and renowned performance coach Morgan Reeser. 

Reeser won a silver medal in the 470 class at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona sailing with the legendary Kevin Burnham and has since coached the Greek women’s and British men’s pairings to Olympic gold and silver respectively and established himself as a sought after performance coach across a range of classes from small one-design keelboats to the TP52 circuit.

Unsurprisingly, he has a treasure chest of great stories from his long career in yachting and is always keen to share his enthusiasm for the sport that has served him so well throughout his life.

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When it comes to ocean racing achievements Damian Foxall sets the bar pretty high. He has six editions of the The Ocean Race under his belt, as well as wins in the double handed Barcelona Race, and record setting non-stop runs aboard monster sized maxi catamarans like Steve Fosset’s PlayStation and Cheyenne.

Damian grew up on a farm in Ireland close to the water and spent his childhood and teenage years on the water with his friends sailing a range of craft from windsurfers to dinghies.

Over the last few years, as the Sustainability Programme Manager for the 11th Hour Racing Team he has been instrumental in demonstrating how performance, sustainability, and business can merge into a successful and replicable model for the marine industry and beyond.  

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The latest episode of The Yacht Racing Podcast was recorded in San Francisco, Ca, where eight international professional sailing teams have been practising out on the bay ahead of the million dollar grand finale of the second season of SailGP.

Justin Chisholm’s guest this time is the prolific Australian skipper Tom Slingsby who as well as leading the SailGP rankings with his Australia SailGP team, has also in recent months won the Moth World Championship and line honours in the Middle Sea Race aboard Comanche – to say nothing of mixing it with the top teams at his first ever TP52 Worlds.

Slingsby has a mainstay of the SailGP movement from its inception and is very enthusiastic about its future. However he is also an past Americas’ Cup winner, and – as he reveals in the interview – he has not ruled out getting involved with the 37th America’s Cup.

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Justin Chisholm speaks to British America’s Cup sailor and Olympic gold medalist rower Matt Gotrel, who has just re-signed as a member of the powerhouse grinding team for the British Challenger of Record at AC37 – Ben Ainslie’s Ineos Britannia.

Gotrel comes from a sailing family and began his career crewing in dinghies on lakes in the south of England. He quickly progressed through the 29er class and into the 49er to join the British Olympic Sailing Team before putting his sailing on hold to go to university

That’s where he was lured into the world of competitive rowing – a sport in which he worked his way up to Olympic selection and won the gold in the Men’s 8 at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

But Gotrel wasn’t done with sailing yet and joined Ineos Britannia for the British syndicate’s 36th America’s Cup campaign. Now he is back for another try at winning sailing’s oldest and most prestigious trophy.

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Justin Chisholm’s guest is British sailor Laurence Mead, the regatta director at the world’s oldest and largest regatta week: the annual UK spectacular that is Cowes Week.

The first Cowes Week regatta was back in 1826 and it now takes place every year on The Solent – that narrow tidal waterway between the English south coast and the nearby Isle of Wight.

Laurence – who took over at Cowes Week in 2018 – is an accomplished sailor in his own right, having competed internationally in the Etchells class and on World Match Racing Tour, as well as at the Admiral’s Cup and in the Sydney Hobart.

During the interview the pair discuss the unique experience of competing at Cowes Week and Laurence gives a glimpse behind the scenes of what goes into running an annual week of racing for around 600 boats and 5000 sailors.

[Image © Paul Wyeth]

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Justin Chisholm’s guest this time is the New Zealand high performance foiling supremo Phil Robertson.

Robertson made his name as a professional sailor on the international match racing circuit where he twice won the World Match Racing Tour World Championship.

Now though he is fully fledged disciple of the high performance foiling revolution and best known for his role as a helmsman and skipper on the SailGP regatta circuit – where he specialises in developing new teams as they join the circuit.

After working with the Chinese and Spanish teams to good effect in the first two seasons of SailGP Robertson has just been announced as skipper and helmsman of the newly announced Canada SailGP Team for Season 3.

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Pip Hare is the British solo sailor who set the social media world alight during her single handed circumnavigation of the world in the last Vendee Globe.

She was sailing on one of the oldest and least technologically advanced boats in the fleet and faced a raft of issues along the way. But she made it around and finished in 19th place – the first British skipper home.

As you will hear in the interview – Pip had to overcome plenty of hurdles just to get to the start line. The Covid pandemic didn’t help, and financially it was touch and go for a while.

But – just as she was beginning to doubt whether she would make it – an email from a prospective sponsor changed everything.

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Justin Chisholm chats with British Olympic campaigner John Gimson whose 16-year Olympic career culminated last year in he and his sailing partner Anna Burnett winning the Silver medal in the Nara 17 class at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Justin caught up with John just before Christmas and shortly after he and Anna had returned from kicking off their Paris 2024 Olympic campaign by defending their Nacra 17 World Championship title in Oman.

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Justin Chisholm’s guest is British solo racing skipper Alex Thomson – a veteran of no less than five editions of the Vendée Globe solo around the world race. 

He made his first attempt in 2004 but damage to his boat put him out of that race and the following edition in 2008-09, but he went on to finish third in the 2012-13 edition and second in the 2016-17. 

Despite starting the 2020-21 edition as a firm favourite to become the first ever non-French Vendée Globe winner, Thomson was again forced out of the race after first having to effect running repairs to the bow of his state of the art ultra high tech IMOCA 60 and then suffering catastrophic damage to one of his rudders in a collision with floating ocean debris. 

The British skipper shocked the sailing world recently with the announcement that he would not be competing in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe.

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Justin Chisholm’s guest is Ed Gorman - a veteran British journalist who during a 25 year career with the British Times newspaper was deputy foreign editor, deputy news editor and a war correspondent – before switching gears to cover Formula 1 and sailing.

Ed was instrumental in introducing two British sailing legends – Dame Ellen MacArthur and Sir Ben Ainslie – to the mainstream public and has reported from a multitude of America’s Cups, Olympic regattas, and around the world race stopovers.

As well as reporting on the America’s Cup and SailGP for The Times – Ed’s latest project is helping the French–centric IMOCA 60 class spread it’s message to the English speaking world.

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Justin Chisholm's guest is fellow-Brit Sam Holliday - co-founder of the Race Around: a single and double-handed multi-stage around the world race in Class 40 yachts, scheduled to take place in 2023. 

Sam is no stranger to the professional yacht racing scene having been involved in Vendee Globe campaigns for British skippers Mike Golding and Mirranda Merron, as well as helping to run successful Class 40 events like The Atlantic Cup and The Pineapple Cup. Although the Race Around start isn’t until 2023, interest from potential competitors is strong – and, as Sam explains in the interview, he and his small but growing team are working flat out to get everything in place.

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Justin Chisholm's guest is British yacht racing journalist Andy Rice, who had just returned from Enoshima, Japan where he had been reporting on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic regatta for World Sailing.

Andy is a veteran Olympic sailing correspondent so well positioned to comment on just how different things were for the sailors in Japan as they coped not only with the pressure of Olympic competition out on the water bit also strict Covid 19 restrictions back ashore.

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It was back in 2012 that Paul piloted the revolutionary Vestas Sailrocket 2 to a new outright world record speed of 65.54 knots to become the fastest man on the water.

That record still stands and in our interview Paul mulls over the idea of dusting off Sailrocket 2 to try to defend his record against two new projects: one French and one Swiss aimed at reaching 80 knots.

We also find out how Paul became very first became interested in sailing as a youngster back in Australia, and we step our way along his timeline since then to tick off the multitude of projects he has been involved in along the way.

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Justin Chisholm speaks to Leon Sefton, who as Head of TV Production for America’s Cup 36 ran the team responsible for the amazing TV coverage that was beamed around the world from Auckland, New Zealand.

Leon headed up a production team of almost 80 people during the Cup down in New Zealand, but as we learn in the interview his work to make the TV coverage of AC36 the best ever actually began several years earlier.

The pair discuss the technology and logistical challenges that Leon and his team faced putting trying to capture the excitement and thrilling action of the AC75 racing on the Hauraki Gulf. They also discuss why good quality audio is just as important as video, and speculate whether a Netflix  documentary series could do for the America’s Cup what ‘Drive to Survive’ has done for Formula 1.

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Justin Chisholm’s guest on the latest episode of The Yacht Racing Podcast is British professional sailor Hannah Diamond.

As well as spending many years with the British Sailing Team on the Olympic campaign trail in a range of classes Hannah also raced the 2017-18 edition of The Ocean Race as part of the Vestas 11th Hour Racing crew.

Having set her Olympic aspirations aside – at least for now – Hannah splits her time between gigs as a pro-sailor, campaign coach, and sailing media contributor.

As revealed in the podcast, from May 2021 as we build up to the Tokyo Olympics you will be able to read Hannah’s Olympic sailing column exclusively here on the Yacht Racing Life website.

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The renowned British yachtsman Neal McDonald is Justin Chisholm’s guest on the latest episode of The Yacht Racing Podcast EXTRA.

McDonald is perhaps best known for his ocean racing achievements in the Whitbread and Volvo Ocean Race, but he is also an Olympic campaigner and won world and European dinghy titles in his time – as well as spending eight years campaigning on the Australian 18-foot skiff circuit.

As well as six Whitbread and Volvo Ocean appearances as a sailor – including twice as a skipper – Neal coached Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team to victory in the 2014-15 edition, and took on the same role with the Spanish Mapfre team in the 2017-18 race.

Away from the fully crewed racing Neal has put his technical analysis skills to good use as part of Alex Thomson’s last two Hugo Boss Vendee Globe campaigns.

Neal is one of professional yacht racing’s great characters and always great to chat to, so this was a fun interview to record and one we are sure our listeners will enjoy.

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Justin Chisholm’s guest on the latest episode of The Yacht Racing Podcast is the French solo offshore racing skipper Charlie Dalin.

Dalin hit the headlines earlier this year after he claimed the line honours victory in the Vendee Globe 2020-21 singlehanded non-stop around-the-world race.

Despite being first home Charlie was not the overall winner.

The time allowance awarded to fellow Frenchman Yannick Bestaven for his part in the search and rescue operation to save PRB skipper Kevin Escoffier put Dalin down to second place in the overall rankings. Nevertheless, to lead the Vendee Globe fleet home at his first attempt at sailing’s toughest around-the-world race is an incredible achievement.

During the interview Dalin shares his insight on what it is like to race around the world alone on a state-of-the-art foiling IMOCA 60. He shares the highs and the low points of his race and explains what it is like to race through the Southern Ocean – arguably the world’s most inhospitable environment – for the first time.

We also find out about the extra pressure Dalin felt being amongst the leaders in the most tightly fought Vendee Globe race ever, and discover just how tough that foil bearing repair was to carry out – all alone at the bottom of the world.

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Justin Chisholm's guest is New Zealand sailor Ray Davies – a key member of the Emirates Team New Zealand syndicate that recently successfully defended the America’s Cup on their home waters off Auckland, New Zealand.

As well as having been instrumental in introducing the original concept of a foiling monohull that so successfully evolved into the astonishing AC75s that the teams raced in the 36th America’s Cup, Ray was also in charge of the Team New Zealand sailing programme – including driving the team’s chase boat in mock match races to help hone Peter Burling’s pre-start tactics.

During the more than an hour long interview the pair discuss:

- how the AC75 concept first saw the light of day and how it subsequently evolved into a high-performance match racing boat

- the various design paths taken by the four teams with their two AC75s

- how the AC75 rule might evolve now for the next edition of the America’s Cup and beyond

- the importance of attracting more teams to future editions of the America’s Cup

Ray also explains how he saw the 36th America’s Cup Match against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli play out from his unique vantage point on the Team New Zealand chase boat; and how – despite having the weight of responsibility of an entire nation on their shoulders – the Kiwi team tried their best to make each race day “just another day on the water”.

As an added bonus Davies also revealed what the timescales might be before we find out more about the format of the 37th America’s Cup.

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Justin Chisholm’s guest this time is Australian professional yachtsman Kyle Langford.

Kyle won the 34th America’s Cup as wing trimmer for Jimmy Spithill with Oracle Team UK and also won the first season of the SailGP international series as wing trimmer for Tom Slingsby’s Australian SailGP Team.

He is now based in Gothenburg, Sweden but the conversation takes him all the way back to his first experiences of sailing as a demanding four-year-old in Australia on Lake Macquarie, his early years of dinghy sailing, and an aborted Olympic campaign in the Tornado class that turned out to be the trigger for him to set his sights on somehow finding a route into the America’s Cup through the World Match Racing Tour.

It’s a long interview in which the pair dig into Kyle's two America’s Cup cycles with Oracle Team USA, his first ever ocean racing experience on the last edition of The Ocean Race, as well as his new found love for ice boating which he tried his hand at in Sweden earlier this year.

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Justin Chisholm is joined by six-time world match racing champion Ian Williams to discuss the first four races of the 36th America’s Cup Match between the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand and the Challenger Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team.

With the points so far having been shared equally between the teams at two points apiece, Justin quizzes Ian for his expert analysis of the races and asks him to breakdown the pre-start strategies, tactics and mistakes that ultimately led to both teams’ victories.

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Justin Chisholm’s guest on the latest episode of the Yacht Racing Podcast is fellow British sailing journalist Andy Rice – creator of sailjuice.com and co-founder of the ‘Road to Gold’ online course on how to mount a professional racing campaign.

Andy and Justin mull over the happenings of the last few weeks on the international sailing scene, including: the unusually close racing in the Vendee Globe; whether a fully crewed IMOCA 60 will be the best solution from a communications point of view for the next edition of The Ocean Race; the quality of the TV coverage emanating from Auckland for the 36th America’s Cup; the prospects for the British and Italian teams in the upcoming Prada Cup Final.

The pair also get into the detail of the Road to Gold 12 step course on how to put together a world class sailing campaign that Andy recently launched in conjunction with renowned New Zealand sailor Hamish Wilcox – the coach to Olympic stars Peter Burling and Blair Tuke and to Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th America’s Cup.

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Yacht Racing Life website editor Justin Chisholm is joined by Vendee Globe skipper Conrad Colman for the final episode of the Vendee Globe special series.

After more than 11 weeks of racing the leading group have finally made it back to Les Sables D’Olonne and Yannick Bestaven has been confirmed as the winner of the ninth edition of the Vendee Globe.

But Bestaven's Maitre Coq IV was not the first boat home – in fact he finished after line honours winner Charlie Dalin on Apivia, Louis Burton on Bureau Vallee, and Thomas Ruyant on LinkedOut.

So how did he win? Conrad and Justin talk through how the leaders' final week at sea played out as they each closed in on the finish of their epic marathon circumnavigations of the planet. There was plenty of action on the night the leading group finished – not least including some major drama for German skipper Boris Herrmann.

All that and lots more besides...

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